We arrived at this one-stop border crossing in the afternoon. We drove straight to the main building and went to the Ministry of Health’s window. They issued us a health certificate, which nobody had ever requested (they did not check any vaccination certificates or temperatures). For the truck, they issued a “Certificate for free pratique of motor vehicle” for a fee of 10,000 TZS, which we paid at the bank (1 USD / 2,550 TZS). They said it’s valid for 30 days, so it can be used multiple times to cross Tanzanian borders.
Then we proceeded to the Rwandan exit stamp. After that, we applied for the Tanzanian transit visa. We filled out the application form, paid the officer $30 in cash, and received the stamp in our passports. The following window was a quick exit stamp into our CPD; they did not ask anything. The next window usually handles Tanzanian TICs for cars, but since we had a CPD, they sent us to the booth near the exit gate, where they stamped it, and we were able to drive out.
The Ministry of Health officer briefly checked the truck and asked us to show him the dustbin and first aid kit. Then, we drove out without any customs check to the exit gate, where the officer stamped our CPD. It was a pretty efficient border without troublesome fixers, and all procedures took us around an hour and a half.
Travel Tips (updated 27.09.2025)
In the meantime, we bought Tanzanian SIM cards (Vodacom – 10 GB / 30 days / 20,000 TZS or 24 GB / 30 days / 50,000 TZS). We encountered no problems with police or army checkpoints throughout Tanzania. Occasionally, they stopped us for overspeeding, which they frequently monitor with cameras, so it’s best to adhere to the 50 km/h speed limit and wear a seatbelt. However, we never paid any fines. Once, they stopped us for overtaking very slowly moving trucks, but again, we paid nothing. A few times, we encountered an immigration checkpoint where they checked our passports. We refuelled in larger cities, where we found Puma to be more reliable than Total. At Puma, they accept cards, and the diesel prices vary from 2,754 TZS to 3,179 TZS, depending on the region. It was not easy to change money; we tried to avoid banks which offered unfavourable rates. However, there was usually a nearby foreign exchange bureau with better rates, ranging from 2,420 TZS to 2,500 TZS per dollar. Most restaurants and shops accepted cards, and only a few attempted to add a transaction fee.